cca 450 is it enough for this -30 weather?

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Letting it run for 1 hr doesn't really do much in terms of charging. Theres no load. You need to get out on the road and drive it. But at this point, just replace that battery.

This. You can't just idle your car to charge the battery, you need to drive it around and get the RPMs up a little bit. It's better for the rest of your car too in this cold weather to be warmed up all at once by driving it gently rather than just warming up the engine.

I don't know why the OP hasn't just gone to Canadian Tire or whatever and sorted this all out already.

- - - Updated - - -

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Trunk batteries are the worst in real cold. No ambient heat to help them out at all.

Some German cars use AGM batteries and this is one of the reason why.

[Disoblige]

Dealerships would make a killing if they installed a block heater/small intelligent trickle charger/battery warmer in a tidy manner and on one circuit that can be used on a typical 15 A breaker. It could even have a manual bypass that allows you to only trickle charger if you want on those warmer days.

[killramos]

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Dealerships would make a killing if they installed a block heater/small intelligent trickle charger/battery warmer in a tidy manner and on one circuit that can be used on a typical 15 A breaker. It could even have a manual bypass that allows you to only trickle charger if you want on those warmer days.

They already make a killing selling new batteries lol

[Mitsu3000gt]

First they make a killing off of the "mandatory" block heater that they have "no choice" but to charge you for. Most people buy that BS and pay for it. A quick $100-200 pure profit per vehicle I imagine.

[Disoblige]

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They already make a killing selling new batteries lol

True actually, dealerships want to replace your battery regardless if it needs it or not! Probably recommend you do it every year

Then perhaps third party shop, maybe. Same ones who install alarms/car starters, etc. I think it would be a good niche service that would be very successful.

[killramos]

I totally agree it’s a good idea. I would pay for someone to do a nice job with this for sure, it’s all off the shelf parts too it’s really a no brainer.

[ExtraSlow]

Super easy to wire up this under the hood with your block heater.

[dj_rice]

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They already make a killing selling new batteries lol

This is true, the past few days were all just battery replacements and blower motors and no start complaints. Lots of frozen Adblue heaters/lines as well. Mind you 70% of the battery replacements were covered under warranty but we making bank either way.

[speedog]

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First they make a killing off of the "mandatory" block heater that they have "no choice" but to charge you for. Most people buy that BS and pay for it. A quick $100-200 pure profit per vehicle I imagine.

People thinking they need block heaters? Wtf am I doing wrong in that I've had multiple Chevy/GM's over 300,000km that I don't bother to plug in, people will argue premature engine wear/failure but my 02 Sierra was at 475,000+km when I sold it and didn't use oil, original engine too.

[Ca_Silvia13]

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People thinking they need block heaters? Wtf am I doing wrong in that I've had multiple Chevy/GM's over 300,000km that I don't bother to plug in, people will argue premature engine wear/failure but my 02 Sierra was at 475,000+km when I sold it and didn't use oil, original engine too.

Most people think plugging in their block heater is great for the battery...

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

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Most people think plugging in their block heater is great for the battery...

Indirectly if it heats the oil enough it makes the motor easier to turn over and draws the battery down less on initial crank.

[revelations]

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Indirectly if it heats the oil enough it makes the motor easier to turn over and draws the battery down less on initial crank.

A block heater is going to do sweet fuck all to the oil in a metal heat sink located close to the ground, thats also somewhat insulated from the block with a gasket.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

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A block heater is going to do sweet fuck all to the oil in a metal heat sink located close to the ground, thats also somewhat insulated from the block with a gasket.

Depends on the vehicle. It raises my oil temp over 15 degrees in this weather after 2-3 hours of being plugged in. Some vehicles also have pan heaters and many have composite oil pans now.

[firebane]

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Indirectly if it heats the oil enough it makes the motor easier to turn over and draws the battery down less on initial crank.

This is such a BS argument. It will vary widely on the vehicle and many other factors.

For example.. my Jeep with a 4" lift plugged in for 4 hours showed zero warmth on the oil pan or anywhere around it. How do I know? Grabbed my IR thermometer... no warmth at the pan.

It would take a shit load of enclosed area or heat to radiate to oil pans to warm up the oil to a reasonable temp.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

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This is such a BS argument. It will vary widely on the vehicle and many other factors.

For example.. my Jeep with a 4" lift plugged in for 4 hours showed zero warmth on the oil pan or anywhere around it. How do I know? Grabbed my IR thermometer... no warmth at the pan.

It would take a shit load of enclosed area or heat to radiate to oil pans to warm up the oil to a reasonable temp.

I literally just said above it depends on the vehicle. On my truck I see 15 degree oil temp increases but it has an insanely large heater that draws massive power.

On most vehicles? Negligible.

[revelations]

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Depends on the vehicle. It raises my oil temp over 15 degrees in this weather after 2-3 hours of being plugged in. Some vehicles also have pan heaters and many have composite oil pans now.

Then you have something else going on - very vehicle specific as stated. But your standard wet sump oil pan located far from the block wont see anything.

I have a stick-on oil pan heater in my car that works great when its minus stupid. It also (very) slightly heats the block indirectly as heat rises.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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People thinking they need block heaters? Wtf am I doing wrong in that I've had multiple Chevy/GM's over 300,000km that I don't bother to plug in, people will argue premature engine wear/failure but my 02 Sierra was at 475,000+km when I sold it and didn't use oil, original engine too.

Like I said, it's just a money-grab from the dealer. Block heaters do have some advantages (like you get heat way sooner) but the BS the dealership feeds you about them is another story.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

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Like I said, it's just a money-grab from the dealer. Block heaters do have some advantages (like you get heat way sooner) but the BS the dealership feeds you about them is another story.

Most German manufacturers don’t even have block heaters as an option these days. Below -30 it can be very beneficial but most of the worlds climates it’s not an issue these days.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Most German manufacturers don’t even have block heaters as an option these days. Below -30 it can be very beneficial but most of the worlds climates it’s not an issue these days.

Correct - neither of my Audi's had them. With most motors these days you're OK with synthetic oil and a good battery. My old Civic used to sit outside for 2-3 days at a time in -30 and it started no problem without plugging in with an AGM battery and synthetic. The steering and shiftier was pretty stiff though haha.

[firebane]

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Like I said, it's just a money-grab from the dealer. Block heaters do have some advantages (like you get heat way sooner) but the BS the dealership feeds you about them is another story.

When your vehicle has a shitty heater core and the electric seats barely warm your ass.. you'll take any extra heat you can get early